Procurement and Disbursement Policy for the 2017 Urgent Repair Program

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Orange County Procurement and Disbursement Policy URGENT REPAIR PROGRAM PROCUREMENT POLICY 1. To the maximum extent practical, Orange County ("the County") promotes a fair, open and competitive procurement process as required under the North Carolina Housing Finance Agency's Urgent Repair Program (URP). Bids are invited from Contractors who are part of the County's approved contractor registry. (To be on the registry, a contractor must complete an application, have their recent work inspected, reviewed and approved by the Rehabilitation Specialist and submit proof of insurance.) Any contractor listed with and approved by the County and in good standing will receive automatic approval status on the contractor registry. 2. At least three eligible contractors on the County's approved contractor registry shall be invited to bid on each job and the lowest responsive and responsible bidder shall be selected for the contract. "Responsive and responsible" means (a) the contractor is deemed able to complete the work in a timely fashion, (b) the bid is within 15%, in either direction, of the County's cost estimate, and (c) there is no conflict of interest (real or apparent). 3. Although bid packages may be bundled for multiple job sites, the bids for multiple job sites shall be considered separate and apart when awarded and shall be awarded to the lowest responsive and responsible bidder(s) for each job site. 4. Bid packages shall consist of an invitation to bid, work write up(s) and bid sheet(s) for each job. 5. Bids must include a cost-per-item breakdown with line item totals equaling the submitted bid price. Discrepancies must be reconciled prior to a contract being awarded. 6. Any change to the original scope of work must be reduced to writing in the form of a change order to be agreed upon and signed by all parties to the original contract and two representatives of the County. The change order must also detail any changes to the original contract price. 7. No work may begin prior to a contract being awarded, executed and a written order to proceed provided to the contractor. In addition, a pre-construction conference and "walk thru" shall be held at the work site prior to commencement of repair work. 8. The County reserves the right to reject any or all bids at any time during the procurement process. 9. In the event of a true emergency situation, the County reserves the right to waive normal procurement procedures in favor of more expedient methods, which may include seeking telephone quotes, faxed bids and the like. Should such methods ever become necessary the transaction will be fully documented. 10. All sealed bids will be opened publicly at a time and place to be announced in the bid invitation. All bidders are welcome to attend.